Panning for Nuggets

“This study showed that individuals who were lonely or did not have good social skills could develop strong compulsive Internet use behaviors resulting in negative life outcomes (e.g., harming other significant activities such as work, school, or significant relationships) instead of relieving their original problems.” –Source

This first nugget is super important in stating that social media is rewiring our brains so that daily life is becoming significantly more different for the person using said social media. The brain is meant for face-to-face human interaction, it requires that type of stimulation to activate key areas of the brain such as emotion and critical thinking. Social media only allows that this type of brain activity be substituted with a computer, allowing the person to take on any type of person they would like to be. This almost multiple personality disorder type of interaction is dangerous for the brain.

This nugget, in comparison to my first nugget, deals with the adverse effects of social media on the sociology of the user, versus the psychology of the user (the nugget above). Not only does social media have an effect on the brain, they also affect the way society works. Social media promotes connecting on a large scale, but they also give easy access to cyberbullying. Without proper maintenance and restrictions, a lot of inappropriate content is thrown around social media ruining peoples lives and corrupting others. Nowadays, everything is incredibly sexualized, and many people think that sending or posting revealing pictures or media in general is the norm. I do not think this is a good way to utilize social media and it is creating a hazardous environment for our younger generations.